My sister has a rather large shed for which she would like to get some power and lighting set up (6 double sockets & 2 batten type lights) distance from cu to shed is approx 40ft. She needs to obviously get the cable run to shed cu (30mA RCD + 32 Amp + 6 Amp MCB's) done by an electrician. However as regards the actual internal shed sockets, lighting, conduit etc is that something I could do for her after the electrician has run the supply from the house to the shed? Would that fall foul of any regulations, it seems a bit of a grey area to me. Setting up the (radial?) circuit for sockets is relatively straightforward I would think. The only appliance requiring a constant supply is a freezer, there is also a tumble dryer in there so would 6mm SWA be sufficient (no I don't know why she wants so many sockets!). FYI she has just been quoted £1200, 4 days work for the whole job which to me seems excessive with the materials circa £300. 4 days seems long particularly as 95% of the SWA he is going to cleat onto gravel board and posts of new fencing and there are already holes from the house cu to an external wall from a previous external socket which was removed when the house was completely rewired a couple of weeks ago.
Shed electrics
- Thread starter arb1
- Start date
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Why have a CU there? Where will the supply for it originate?
You may.
Whether you can or not is another matter.
Not if you apply for Building Regulations approval in advance.
What size cable?
Do you know what tests you would carry out on the installation in the shed - what sequence you'd do them in and at what point you would energise the installation, and for each test do you know what is being measured, why it is important, how you would carry out the test, and with what equipment, and what sort of results you would expect to get if everything was OK?
Work out what the equivalent hourly/weekly/annual pay would be, out of £225 per day, after you've deducted costs such as these:
Vehicle
Stock
Scheme membership costs
Regulations and other publications
Tools
Tester calibration costs
Public Liability Insurance
Professional Indemnity Insurance
Van insurance
Tool insurance
Medical Insurance
"Holiday pay"
"Sick pay"
Pension
Van servicing
Fuel
Accountant
Stock
Scheme membership costs
Regulations and other publications
Tools
Tester calibration costs
Public Liability Insurance
Professional Indemnity Insurance
Van insurance
Tool insurance
Medical Insurance
"Holiday pay"
"Sick pay"
Pension
Van servicing
Fuel
Accountant
See if you still think that it's excessive.
All of that [and more] for only £25 per hour!
I get the impression OP thinks 4 days is excessive, how many quotes have you had so far?
I have recently moved a full stage lighting rig from old to new building, we quoted for 10 days labour and are struggling to convince them that 4.5 days for 2 people is in fact 10 days as they only saw us on site for 5 days.
I've heard a good few people saying similar ...
... I imagine that one can help the situation by quoting in terms of (wo)man-days (or person-days), which might at least make some of them stop to think before they start moaning.
Some people take a different approach, and quote on the basis of a 'daily rate' which takes into account the number of people involved. Hence your job above would be quoted as 5 days, at a 'daily rate' double that which would apply for a one-man job. I think that approach is even worse, because customers then complain about the 'excessive daily rate'!
A problem I sometimes have with stupid clients is convincing them that my attendance of a 1-hour meeting at a venue 150 miles away from my home is (at least) "1 day's work", not the "1 hour" that some daft ones think they should pay me for!!
Kind Regards, John
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I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment; along with the logic of 'person-days'. But you'd be struggling to convince me that 2 persons at 4.5 days is actually 10 days!
£225 a day is not overly excessive, for the work involved 4 days is.
Please don't contribute to this modern politically correct claptrap.
I did wonder about that, too! However, I have to say that, when talking about a period of several days, I have always tended to 'round up' when the fraction is 0.5 days or above - so I would regard 4.5 days as being "5 days". However, it obviously depends upon the situation and the type of work (and the client!).I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment; along with the logic of 'person-days'. But you'd be struggling to convince me that 2 persons at 4.5 days is actually 10 days!
Kind Regards, John
As I imagine you know, I am certainly no subscriber to "modern politically correct claptrap". However, in this one particular case, I have always been rather unhappy with 'gender-specific' words (when they were inappropriate) - since before "PC" even meant "Personal Computer", let alone "Political Correctness"!
I remember moaning, decades ago, about the use of the term 'man-hours' in relation to nursing resources, in an era when (other than in a Mental Health context), male nurses were very rare.
Kind Regards, John
I was only bantering; and most jobs are for a fixed price in my limited experience anyway. When that's the case, I'd sooner they were gone soonest, not whining about the time- "Ooh, that only took 45 mins: and you still want the whole £50?". However, if someone says £30/hr, then good arithmetic is called for!
Particularly if it includes VAT (i.e. £25 + VAT), £30 is really not all that much. By the time one has taken all the overheads into account (as mentioned by BAS), I doubt that £20 charged to customer/client would get much more than "the minimum wage" going into the worker's pocket (and that before tax/NI!).
Kind Regards, John
I should have put £x/hr- it was a figure plucked from thin air, not what I think should be paid for skilled work..
You should have used the time spent moaning to do some etymological research to find out what the root of "man" was in that context.
Or, for consistency, object even to the word "woman" and insist it should be "woperson".
No I didn't.
arb - we have all been there, and bu****ed up quotes. Most of us, as soon as we see it's wrong, put it right.
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